


Fool Me Twice

by AhsokaLegend



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, For some characters, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'll make them myself, Light Angst, Post-Episode: s02e07 The Believer, The Believer - Freeform, The Mandalorian (TV) Season 2 Spoilers, does this count as hurt/comfort?, might as well, need more platonic Fennec fics, she's contemplating her place in the universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AhsokaLegend/pseuds/AhsokaLegend
Summary: In which Fennec works through her issues with Mando and Boba Fett helps her out + brief origin of Mando’s Zoom call with Moff Gideon.
Relationships: Boba Fett & Fennec Shand
Comments: 9
Kudos: 79





	Fool Me Twice

**Author's Note:**

> This is a precursor to my story "In A Heartbeat".

“Something went wrong on the mission.” 

“There was a lot that went wrong,” Boba concedes with a shake of his head, “But nothing of consequence.”

Fennec’s eyes dart over to where Mando is talking with Dune outside the ship. Against her better judgement she’s grown fond of the two. They’re strong, determined fighters, though their decision-making skills leave much to be desired. It rubs her the wrong way letting Mayfield go. What’s keeping that trouble-maker from running back to the Empire? Killing him off would have solved their problems faster. 

They’ve touched down on the other side of Morak, far away from the smoldering ruins of the Empire’s refinery. Sitting in the docking bay of Slave I, she and Boba prepare for the inevitable showdown. He’s next to her, painting the finishing coat on his armor while she cleans her blaster rifle. Keeping him company while he works is the least she can do, and it helps keep her idle mind busy.

Boba’s watching her, no doubt he can tell she’s already planning for the worse case scenario. Unlike their counterparts, his actions give away none of his inner thoughts, and she respects him for it. Though calm in the moment, she’s seen his righteous fury. He is a warrior—reliable and honor-bound. If only the perpetually masked Mandalorian made as much sense. 

“My understanding is the mission was a success,” Boba cocks his head giving her his full attention. “Unless, something has tipped you off…” 

She doesn’t hesitate, “The Mandalorian,” she says scrubbing away at the metal, “he’s hurting.”

“A physical injury?”

She almost laughs and settles for putting down her weapon, “Doubt he’d let us check if he was…” for a moment she’s quiet. At times like this it’s important to choose the right words, a skill she took pride in before Tatooine. She lets her eyes follow the Mandalorian drawing Boba’s own to her target. “This is a deeper kind of pain.”

“The Child?”

“No, something new,” she hadn’t survived her years as a bounty hunter without picking up a few deductive skills. Trusting her gut, reading people before they act had saved her skin more than once. 

She reaches a hand to her abdomen, until it hadn’t. That kriffin’ jr bounty hunter had lowered her defenses and made her forget the most important rule—expect the unexpected.

Humans are not droids. Priorities can change the instant a better option comes along. People don’t side with the logical decision every time, and that’s what concerns her. As much as she wants to believe this crew will last, she’s lived too long to mistake cooperation for trust. This team-up is business, and if there’s any person on the crew to be wary of, it’s the Mandalorian. His decisions are spur of the moment; his plans half-baked and emotion-driven. But he’s good—too good to be ignored. He’s bested her once; she won’t make the same mistake again. 

She’s been watching him since he returned from the mission. That’s when she noticed the change. First, it came in the way he moves. Body language is as telling as a bad sabacc face, whether he has one or not. Compared to before the mission, he is more anxious and occasionally freezes like he’s lost in his thoughts. If she hadn’t been paying attention she would have missed the way he jumped when Dune hit his shoulder. She’s never seen him this… on edge, subtle as it is. 

It’s in the way he carries himself too: hands clenching, fingers rubbing, feet tapping. The typically impervious Mandalorian is hunching his shoulders and floundering between tasks like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He’s troubled and restless, and a restless bounty hunter can only stir up trouble. He can only cause _her_ trouble. 

What had started out as passive intrigue turns to suspicion in an instant. What happened on that mission? Something is bothering him, that much is clear, but what could unnerve a Mandalorian?

If she had more information she could piece together the scattered clues. Every person has a tell. It’s a matter of locating and hiding it before it becomes your undoing, or in the case of enemies, exploiting it. 

Is the Mandalorian her enemy? 

From a distance, she can see the marshal and Mando setting up a fire. He interacts friendly enough with Dune, then again, they are friends. If she hadn’t appeared with Boba backing her, she’d have been shot point-blank. There’s no doubt in her mind about that. 

She doesn’t trust the Mandalorian as far as she can throw him, which factoring in his armor isn’t much. Their current state is a compromise of necessity, not friendship. The temporary peace doesn’t stop her from wondering what happens once she and Boba lose their footing in his good graces. 

His actions bring up buried fears inside her. Could his behavior be guilt? Could he be planning to betray them to the Empire in exchange for the child? Her bounty and Boba’s combined would fetch a hefty price on the black market, and the Empire would want them dead even more.

She’d like to keep her head after this mission is complete, and if that means keeping her distance, so be it.

“Keep an eye on him,” she says tilting her head towards the masked bounty hunter.

“Fennec, we're here to help the man. Our debt must be paid.”

“I know,” the Mandalorian is fidgeting again, this time twirling his blaster while he waits for Dune to return, “and I also know a basket case when I see one. His vision is clouded.”

“He has lost his son—”

“And I’m not about to lose my new life!”

A quiet spreads between them as each stews in their thoughts. Fennec grips her blaster rifle tightly feeling the cold metal press into her hands. The last time she let it go had been a disaster. She won’t fall again. 

“How do we know we’re not walking into a trap?” she asks through gritted teeth.

“Oh, it is most likely a trap,” Boba says, “though not of the Mandalorian’s design,” he returns to painting his helmet. 

Fennec rolls her eyes, of course he’s still soft for this _fellow Mandalorian_ bantha crap. She’s about to get back to cleaning her rifle when Boba stops painting.

“In fact,” a grin stretches his scarred face, “I have an idea that might make this rescue-mission more interesting for both sides.”

“How so?”

“You’ll see later when I dig up the holoprojector,” he laughs.

His words do little to quell her racing mind. She knows she’s not imagining the change in the Mandalorian. When his ship was destroyed and the child taken, he was despondent. It was like his life force bled dry. 

His behavior now doesn’t make sense. There’s something else there simmering under the surface. Whether it’s the guilt of betrayal or personal pain, this is not the same Mandalorian that stood on the ridge with them hours ago. 

“My advice,” Boba interupts her thoughts, “do not let your anger over the past lead you astray. The Mandalorian’s loyalties are set in stone. You have seen, he will do anything to bring the child back.”

“That’s what worries me.”

“No Fennec, you are worried about many things. The Mandalorian,” he points out the landing ramp, “is concerned with only one.” He puts his hand on her shoulder reassuring her of his support before returning to the unfinished paint job laid out on the floor.

Accepting his silent invitation, she joins in by grabbing a gauntlet in need of another red coat. Together they keep an eye on the Mandalorian and marshal sitting around their fire as the sun sets over the forest world. 

* * *

Long after the duo’s fire has sparked and burned out, she and Boba continue conversing in the dark. As a group they settled on a plan earlier. In the morning they head for the child.

Since they’ve finished painting she hasn’t brought up her thoughts on the Mandalorian. She knows Boba sees potential in him, and in another lifetime she would agree. She wishes she could understand his faith in this crew, yet until she sees it for herself, the Mandalorian is suspect.

She decides to give it one more go before he heads in, “Boba—”

“I trust your judgement, Fennec,” he answers, newly painted helmet in hand. “Let it be known if either raises a blaster against you, I will come with my jetpack.”

She smiles, a real genuine smile. In this world, she has no one besides Boba to call friend.

He nods, recognizing her smile as permission to continue, “Watch and wait. When the time comes, we will decide together our own fate.” 

Standing up, Boba gathers his supplies and starts heading into Slave I. Before he is too far away that their conversation would be conducted above whispers he says, “He is Mandaloiran; I believe he will keep to the deal in the end.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

It takes him a while to answer, “Then… we shall see,” Boba returns his helmet to his head and walks into the ship to prepare the group’s holoprojector for a new transmission.

After he is gone, Fennec remains on the ramp watching and waiting. As much as she wants to trust Mando, naivety tags a price she is not willing to pay. It will take more than one successful mission to win her over to his side. 

She watches him signal to the marshal as he heads out into the woods with some blocks of carbonite. For what purpose he’s leaving in the dead of night she doesn’t know, but she will find out eventually. He’s hiding something—a secret she will reveal in time. 

They have a saying on her home planet, “ _Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”_ She will not be shamed; she will not lose to the Mandalorian again. 

Dune heads in after Boba, passing her by on the ramp. Feeling her own body crying out for sleep, she collects her supplies.

All she has left to do is wait. By the end of tomorrow, she will either have a new crew or an old enemy returned.

Until then, Boba has a point. Analyzing every target, obsessing over the motives of others, will leave her vulnerable to attack. What she needs is one focus, one goal—to pick her battle wisely. She shoves a charge into her rifle following the Mandalorian through the scope as he disappears out of sight. This time she will not fail. 

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I love the idea of found-family Mando, Boba, & Fennec, but they’re not there yet. If you think about it, the last time Fennec saw Mando he was trying to capture her and then his protégé left her for dead on the sands of Tatooine, so yeah I think she has trust issues. 
> 
> I’m so excited for the finale tomorrow. 
> 
> Tumblr: @ahsokalegend 
> 
> P.S. (Okay but Fennec was fooled once by the Mandalorian because she underestimated him. Now, she will be fooled twice because she is expecting him to double-cross her and Boba when he is actually all-in on the team-up :)


End file.
